Straight-up advice about getting into top colleges, for the "average" excellent student

@Classof2017 have a look at this: http://www.nber.org/digest/jan07/w12139.html

I of course don’t know about all colleges, but I do know that at Brown for example, about 25% more women apply than men. This is true at a lot of universities and colleges that focus on liberal arts, historically the backbone of many top colleges. I imagine the numbers are maybe a little more balanced at some other top colleges. When I was a CC newbie, this disparity bothered me, then I just accepted reality. The truth is, there are so many wonderful colleges out there that there is a great place for everyone. It just may,not be Stanford or Princeton.